All this free time and I couldn't be more unproductive if I tried. The hell is wrong with me?
Quote from: waywardtimelord on September 21, 2016, 08:56:28 amI am so sad, lonely, and depressed in this country.I know the job is easy. I know I shouldn't be complaining.But every single day is a struggle and I still have 161 left on my countdown app.(more of a whine/moan than a rant/vent, but whatever)I sympathize with your misery. It's sad that you're unhappy. I wish you were happy.But - anyone who says this job is 'easy' probably either a) doesn't care about their job very much, or b) is really bad and lazy at their job. I don't think either of those apply to you. But, yeah. People who go on about how easy teaching English in Korea is are generally bad teachers.
I am so sad, lonely, and depressed in this country.I know the job is easy. I know I shouldn't be complaining.But every single day is a struggle and I still have 161 left on my countdown app.(more of a whine/moan than a rant/vent, but whatever)
I hate eating lunch with my coworkers. It's so lonely. Every day I go with my 3 English coteachers and sometimes the gym and music teachers. All 5 of them can speak English to some degree, however they always exclude me from conversation. I've tried making small talk with them... "How was your trip?" "Wow did you feel the earthquake last night?" But it just turns into a simple response and they carry on the conversation without me in Korean. I feel like it's a little rude to butt in and ask what's going on, so I just kinda gave up and eat lunch in silence every day. I understand and don't expect them to go way out of their comfort zone to speak English to me all during lunch time, but I would appreciate them including me every once in a while....
Quote from: pokute on September 26, 2016, 10:41:25 amOnly finished half my classes for the day and already have a headache. Is it just me, or is the school building an absolute zoo some days? (I teach rural elementary). Kids completely out of control between AND during English class and their teacher is often nowhere to be seen. It feels exactly like a preschool for big kids. It's also a small school and there is no English classroom, so I have to go to individual classes to teach them. I'm not willing to put on a circus show when I come in just so they'll hold their attention. Is it just me? Sometimes it does seem like a zoo. In my school, there are no teachers in the hallways to monitor what the students are doing. It's a free for all - screaming, running, hitting, students breaking things, throwing their books etc. When I first got here, my CT asked me about the behavior of American students vs Korean students. She was shocked to hear that rules such as no screaming/running/hitting were actually enforced (at least where I grew up and where I taught later on) She was like "do the students actually listen?" and I just looked at her like... "that's what the teachers and hall monitors are for..."Here is a tangent, but it's pretty interesting the way Korean schools seem wild to me because I don't see things like order/respect/silence/safety put very highly on the list of importance, but my CTs think American schools are free for alls because girls can wear lip gloss and teachers don't try to break couples up when they inevitably form.
Only finished half my classes for the day and already have a headache. Is it just me, or is the school building an absolute zoo some days? (I teach rural elementary). Kids completely out of control between AND during English class and their teacher is often nowhere to be seen. It feels exactly like a preschool for big kids. It's also a small school and there is no English classroom, so I have to go to individual classes to teach them. I'm not willing to put on a circus show when I come in just so they'll hold their attention. Is it just me?
I was lucky to have a lovely CoT 2 years ago at my last school. I don't have a CoT now but it has its own crap to deal with (hence my last post). When there is no Korean teacher in the classroom the students lose all discipline because obviously it's okay to disrespect the foreign teacher. Either way it's hit or miss with or without a CoT :(
Quote from: Pecan on September 26, 2016, 10:02:13 amHaLo,I was told the same thing years ago, so I showed up and feigned interest.After several weeks, I decided to stay in my office to see what would happen.Not a word was mentioned.Perhaps you could give it a try and see.Hang tough.Haha, I tried that for the last meeting two weeks ago and I got an urgent kakao message reminding me of the meeting. So unfortunately, that won't work, but thanks for the thought.
HaLo,I was told the same thing years ago, so I showed up and feigned interest.After several weeks, I decided to stay in my office to see what would happen.Not a word was mentioned.Perhaps you could give it a try and see.Hang tough.
Why do people open up a sheaf of papers and then only put some of them in the printer tray...It's designed to accept all of the papers that com in one set of plastic wrap.
Quote from: Loki88 on September 26, 2016, 02:08:52 pmWhy do people open up a sheaf of papers and then only put some of them in the printer tray...It's designed to accept all of the papers that com in one set of plastic wrap.Laziness, I imagine.
Quote from: pokute on September 26, 2016, 02:16:24 pmQuote from: Loki88 on September 26, 2016, 02:08:52 pmWhy do people open up a sheaf of papers and then only put some of them in the printer tray...It's designed to accept all of the papers that com in one set of plastic wrap.Laziness, I imagine.I think my school fears paper jams so they think putting in less paper at a time will somehow help.